


Defenders of Tomorrow

by LeakiraRedux



Category: Voltron: Defenders of Tomorrow, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Defenders of Tomorrow, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bisexual Leandro, Cyberpunk, Defenders of tomorrow - Freeform, Drama, Fluff, Gender Fluid Character, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Leandro has heterochromia, M/M, Multilingual Akira, Multilingual Leandro, Mutual Pining, Non-binary character, Rating May Change, Romance, Trans Characters, Violence, Will add tags as the story progresses, Worldbuilding, akira is good with bikes and mechanics, gay Akira, leandro is thirsty
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-17
Updated: 2018-08-17
Packaged: 2019-06-28 13:03:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15707778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeakiraRedux/pseuds/LeakiraRedux
Summary: Twenty years later after the fall of Voltron, Akira Kogane finds himself lost in the world of advanced technology and a raging war. Finding love in such circumstances seemed impossible until meeting Leandro McClain, a goofy yet painfully adorable man with killer shooting skills. Together they will find the secrets behind the war unfolding on their home planet, escape the tendrils of darkness and harness the power of love through the fight to take back what they once lost.A Voltron Alternate Universe





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, reader! It'll be lovely meeting you all! We're Tushy and Alyssa, the co-writers for this story. In case you haven't heard, @kciths and @captainlumin on Twitter came up with the brilliant idea of a Voltron Redux! As a disclaimer, this is meant to be all in good fun and make it so we can have blatantly canon POC & LGBT characters and relationships!
> 
> Character counterpart guide:  
> Keith -> Akira  
> Shiro -> Haruhiko

“For millennia, the Galra Empire had plagued the universe by destroying other civilizations and enslaving various races. The only known threat strong enough to put an end to the empire's power and plans was the legendary "Defender of the Universe" Voltron, a 100-meter-tall robot warrior composed of five lion mechas whose pilots were known as the Paladins.”

The video for the day’s lesson dragged on and on, repeating the same words, the same scenarios, the same people. Akira grew up hearing people regale the legend of Voltron. How the brave paladins eventually sacrificed themselves for the greater good. How Voltron itself gave its own quintessence to keep Earth and its people alive. What Akira didn't understand was the fact that Voltron and its paladins were still worshipped as gods among men, while a war was currently still raging on.

Haruhiko and his father have been gone for two years now. He had stopped receiving letters from them both three months after they were deployed; he hadn’t heard from them since. Worst of all, no one would give him a straight answer.

“ _It’s war, people go missing all the time, they can’t keep track of every single individual_.”

“ _It was most likely the effect of someone making an error_.”

“ _We just don’t know, kid_.”

And time wouldn’t wait for Akira to grieve properly or try and find his family; the world was quickly evolving every day. Technology was advancing rapidly, and with updated ways of space exploration, more and more aliens started emigrating to Earth. Or, Miscere, as some of the aliens have taken to calling it.

With all of the newcomers and new technologies, came about a drastic change in how each country governed itself. Most economies expanded greatly, and new cities popped up every day as 21st century boom towns. The rich thrived while the poor stayed poor; middle class families were taxed even more to help with the added population of countries. And to avoid conflict with the aliens, a lot of government spending would start going towards housing them. Funding for schools, churches, and even orphanages drastically decreased.

Akira spent his last few days in the orphanage that he resided in watching the younger children get new families in droves. It was Christmas at the time, and once the New Year hit, the orphanage would be shut down; any child that was left was to be put out on the streets, forced to fend for themselves.

Unsurprisingly, Akira found himself being one of those children.

Thankfully, any and all survival knowledge that Haruhiko and his dad taught him had stuck. He ended up being one of the “lucky” ones; and by that, he meant that he had survived. And while primary education remained free, the teaching methods and lessons changed immensely from a mere decade ago. The main focus in classrooms now was learning about Voltron and its legacy.

Akira often wondered about the war, and about the brave soldiers who went out to fight the last vestiges of the Galra empire who still craved power. Those soldiers were hardly mentioned.

“... many brave soldiers we’ve lost. Men and women of all species sacrificed their lives for this noble cause… to this war. When we think of freedom, we think of them. When we think of family, we think of them. And when we think of our children’s future… we think of them.” The narrator’s voice rang with passion and pride through the speakers. “On this day we will no longer run or hide, we will no longer suffer and hurt, we will no longer have to search for another way. Because today we are at peace… we are united… and we are free.” The video cut to black, and the silence in the classroom was disturbingly loud.

Free, yet forgotten. Akira’s definition of free didn’t quite align with most others’. He was alone, forgotten, homeless. And he believed that you’re only ever _truly_ free when you are loved.

No, Akira didn’t see freedom at all. It was as if the universe itself were contained in a box. Left alone, forgotten, and otherwise untouchable. The destruction came from inside; war, hate, torture and malice. And sacrifice. Earth- no, Miscere preached unity in its diversity. However, with the current people in charge, it was bringing nothing but pain.

Akira often wakes up in the middle of the night to screams of emotional agony as children get ripped away from their mothers. Seeing people getting shot down in the street was no longer something out of the ordinary. People, humans and aliens alike, were miserable.

While walking home, Akira pondered that sometimes, he didn’t know what was worse: sitting through lectures that he abhorred or having to come back to his shit-hole of a residence every day. He found a home in The Wasure after the orphanage kicked him out; it held in its clutches a run-down apartment complex, inhabited by only a few people. Compared to majority of the surrounding cities, Akira found himself in the dark a lot, living in The Wasure. There were no flashing neon lights or bustling roads. Just quiet brick buildings, rusted fire escapes and a single abandoned playground.

Akira has his routines per day. It’s a lonely cycle, and a repetitive one. He takes the same path to and from school, ignores the same people, and puts his keys in the same place. For a couple of hours, he works meticulously on the bike that he had snuck in. And once he’s done, he just goes to his spot on the floor where a bed should probably be.

And that’s where he is now. Sitting on a ratty blanket, dog tags clenched in his fist. Haruhiko’s and his dad’s. When Akira first got the idea that they were missing, he would hold the tags close to his heart, and feel just slightly better.

Now, he only feels angry and alone.

Akira tightened his grip on the tags, the cool metal pressing painfully into the palm of his hand. However, it made him determined. He _would_ meet with them again someday. He had to, for they were his only family. The only people he held most dear to him.

Lips pressed into a thin line, he glared down at the names on the tags.

“I _will_ find you.”

\---

“LEANDRO!” he screamed, hand outstretched from inside the vent, grasping desperately for his lover. Leandro only kept shooting, eyes trained on the aliens surrounding them.

“GO, KIRA!” he yelled back, “I can only hold them off for so long, so you have to _go_!” Akira paused, the little girl in his arms now a supremely heavy weight against his instinct. Leandro must be running out of ammo by now, he wouldn’t be able to defend himself much longer- “GET OUT OF HERE!” Leandro finally turned his head to lock eyes with Akira; his eyes were pleading, desperate, but Akira also saw the fear pulsing within his irises.

Squeezing his eyes shut, Akira finally started shuffling back further into the vent. Just before he lost sight of Leandro, he watched as his boyfriend surrendered, guns falling to the ground uselessly, and tried to ingrain that signature bright smile into his memory. Leandro says one thing right before he’s tackled to the ground.

“ _You’ll find me._ ”


	2. Bad Business

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for your comments, kudos, and subscriptions on the last chapter!! It honestly means the world! Finally, we get to take a look at some more characters ;)
> 
> Lance -> Leandro  
> Pidge -> Pana  
> Matt -> Matteo

The pulsing essence of the city bloomed eerily in the obscurity of night. The glow of the lights seemed to dance with the moon, and the sounds reverberated against every crack and corner of the city in a never ending reminder that it was alive. And also... that it was a force to be reckoned with. What was once a peaceful suburbia, was now nothing more than a crowded metropolis populated only by high society and crime. The utopian history of the city of Lazuli had been washed away years and years ago.

Now, hundreds of skyscrapers lay along every block, covered in neon advertisements; brightly lit arrows lined the skyways that sat high above the passersby. Presently, the people who occupied the packed streets and sidewalks were just citizens trying to get to their destination without ever interacting with any other living being. Aliens and humans alike held a deep distaste for the other, and the mood furthered and grew until everyone just decided to keep to themselves. It was easier that way. _Safer_.

It was _safer_ if aliens and humans didn’t interact.

\---

“Fucking bitch! When I tell you to bring me my money, what do you think I want you to do!?” A gruff voice echoed dangerously in the darkened alleyway, and a boy no older than seventeen quivered fearfully. The alien huffed, and stood up straight from where he was crowding the boy. His skin, like uncut, green limestone, cracked ominously as he stared the teen down. With a smirk, he brought his hand down on the boy’s cheek, knocking him to the asphalt beneath their feet.

When he didn’t receive any noise for his trouble, the alien slammed the tip of his boot into the boy’s stomach. Again, and again, and again until he eventually cried out through a dry heave before throwing up. Breathing heavily, and forcing himself to stay conscious, the kid managed to push himself to the side, narrowly missing his own mess. The alien and his groupies only laughed in response. One in particular, a scrawny version of his leader, walked over, avoiding the puke with his top lip curled in disgust. One-handed, he picked the teen up by the back of his collar, causing him to choke before he righted himself unsteadily.

“Should we keep beating him Vlax? I say that he deserves it for the trouble he’s caused us,” he snickered. The boy’s head lolled forward, fighting the urge to just close his eyes, and welcome the sweet relief of unconsciousness.

“Please…” he murmured, throat stinging painfully.

Vlax chuckled darkly and patted the human’s cheek that he had previously struck. “You do what you want, just so long as he learns his lesson. _No_ _one_ messes with Vlax’s mon-“ He suddenly cuts himself off, causing the other members to quiet. A low rumbling came from the street intersecting the alley. The aliens watched silently as a red motorcycle slowly came into view, its passenger a person sporting a matching red jacket. Whoever it was, their face was completely obscured by the goggles and bandana covering the lower portion of their face. The only notable thing about the newcomer was the person’s hair; strikingly white under the blanket of the night sky.

The biker stopped, sitting at the very front of the alleyway entrance, looking nonplussed despite the lack of visible expression. With slow movements, he turned his bike off but remained seated and very blatantly looked each member up and down, almost as if he was scanning them.

“What the fuck are you looking at?!” Vlax snarled, finally having had enough of the silence.

“To be honest with you… I don’t know… looks like a big, ugly, green alien and his buddies picking on a little kid” the masked man responded dully, to which the alien’s glare deepened.

Vlax growled deep in his chest, “The fuck you want, you raw-boned street rat?!”

Hidden behind his mask, the man scowled, getting up off the seat of his bike in one fluid motion. "I'll cut to the chase," he called across the alleyway bathed in the reds of nearby lights. "You let the boy go, and no one gets hurt."

Vlax's face smoothed out in shock, and he looked around at his compatriots. A beat of silence passes before he breaks it with a loud snort, the sound soon followed by a cacophony of guffaws and shrieks of laughter. Vlax holds his extended belly as he continues to laugh, before finally settling down. With a smirk, he mocked, "No one gets hurt?" The smile is soon replaced with a sneer. "Puny human, you're the only thing that'll be hurt in this fight."

Violet eyes glint dangerously in the dark, body still lax yet entirely tensed. The weight of his knife rested comfortingly against his waist. His eyes sweep across the gang once more; four, no, five members. Including the leader. His lip quirked up on one side.

No. He wouldn’t need it for this fight.

Vlax curled his vile lips up into a smirk again, showing a row of uneven and inhuman teeth, entirely horrid. A quick scan of the leader told him that his hands were big, probably big enough to crush a cantaloupe, but his stance was lazy and unstable. The rest of the members were relatively the same, but smaller in size. So, hitting and evading it would be then. The smell of dead fish and mothballs permeated the alley, obviously coming from the aliens, if not just the leader. There were crater-like holes in his face, and the masked man saw something skitter into one of them. The stranger grimaced to himself but didn’t fail to drop into a lower stance, shoulders tensing to ready for a fight.

The alien and his posse only let out a string of laughter. Vlax gestured to the scrawny alien, who in answer, flung the teen to the wall of the alley where he crumpled immediately. With a crooked smile still on his face, Vlax stared the mysterious stranger down. “Fine. If you insist on death, then so be it!” Vlax bellowed, lunging clumsily and taking a swing at the masked man who easily dodged and ducked and immediately swung his fist up under Vlax’s chin, sending the alien tumbling back and falling. His large body hit the ground hard, and a sickening crunch could be heard.

Two of the others instantly rush the human simultaneously, one even reaching for an old pole that had laid against the back fencing. He came at the man first, swinging the pole unceremoniously. Grabbing it, the man kicked the aliens legs out from under him, snatching the pole to hit the second alien in the face, knocking him out. After bringing it back down onto the other’s head to knock him out as well, the remaining aliens paused, unsure of how to advance.

The biker stared them down from behind his goggles, and the two aliens swallowed nervously before looking at each other. They nodded before slowly and cautiously grabbing their leader and making a break for it to the end of the alley.

The man waited for them to disappear from sight before he sighed, shaking his head before walking over to the teen boy who had been discarded and forgotten. Kneeling down, he surveyed the damage and grit his teeth. He reached a hand out to try and wake the boy so as not to startle him, but as soon as his fingers brushed the boy’s clothes, the teen’s eyes snapped open, pupils blown wide. He weakly smacked the stranger’s hand away. The boy coughed and looked up at white haired man with brown eyes that had already witnessed the cruelty of the world they lived in.

“Please… no more,” he whispered. His entire body ached, and he couldn’t keep his head up at all; the world was slowly fading away to darkness. But luckily he had grown accustomed to the dark long ago.

The man exhaled through his nose deeply, frowning, before removing his bandana and goggles. “I’m here to help you, don’t worry. I’m going to pick you up and then I’m going to take you somewhere safe. Understand?” After a few seconds of silence, the boy finally relented, comforted by the fact that he could now see the stranger’s expression. Being careful with his ribs and neck, the man with the white hair gently lifted the boy into his arms.

Breathing uneven, the boy’s voice was hoarse when he managed to ask, “W-why… did you save me?” Eyelids fluttering, last thing the boy saw was a violet gaze before he succumbed to the pain and the stress of the night, falling unconscious.

A sigh escaped while the man got back onto his motorcycle, positioning the boy in front of him so he wouldn’t fall off during the ride. “Unfortunately, it’s just something that _someone_ has to do,” he murmured, neither getting a response or expecting one as he revved the engine and took off.

\---

The whirring of the little white desk fan did next to nothing against the quiet of the afternoon. The shop was awash with yellow and green ambience and sweltering heat. While it was cheaper to run the shop without an HVAC unit and subsequently, air-conditioning, it made the heat that much more miserable.

Honestly, what could a person do, but to sigh in this type of situation?

"Lee, _please_ stop sighing!"

Leandro pouted in the direction of Matteo’s head. Okay, maybe sighing ten times in 30 seconds is a bit much. But he was hot and bored. Sue him. His eyes wandered over to Pana who sat horizontally from him at the counter, still tinkering with some device from over 20 years ago. They explained what it was to him, but he just couldn't find himself interested enough to retain the information after they were done talking. Leandro was just about to ask what the contraption did for the third time that day when the bell at the door jingled. True to antiques, Leandro thought to himself. All three of the people in the room whipped their attention to the possible customer.

Said person seemed to freeze up after noticing all the eyes on him. "Umm, I was just wondering where the nearest motel was?" It was almost possible to hear the collective sigh of defeat in the summer stillness.

"Two blocks down, take a right and continue for three blocks," Matteo smiled good-naturedly. The man nodded in thanks and left as quick as he came. Leandro reopened the cash register, like it would possibly change the amount inside, and sure enough; only three 5 dollar bills lay there.

Business. Was. Booming

"Cheer up guys, I'm sure we'll get at least one more person by the end of the day!" Matteo says as he strolls over to a shelf and placed the "new" items in their correct spots.

Leandro leaned against the counter and scoffed, “Yeah, sure, you mean like yesterday? And the day before that… and the day before that… and the day befo-”

“Okay! We get it, Lee!” Pana shouted, sighing shortly after in an effort to try and calm themself down, “We get it… people aren’t coming, the store isn’t making any money, and I’m not going to college,” they huffed before laying their head on the counter, glasses pressing against the bridge of their nose.

Leandro shared a worried look with Matteo, whose jaw clenched and eyebrows scrunched together, before gracefully hopping over to the other side of the counter. Draping himself on top of her back in a weird imitation of an embrace, he pouted when Pana just groaned in response. “Pana! Of course you’re going to go to college! Your dream college, at that!” When he receives silence as his answer, he continues, “We are gonna go out there and sell the crap out of these antique goods so that we can get you the money to go!”

From beneath him, Pana does not sound amused. “Lee, you’re just going to go out there and then come right back inside when you get too hot.” They not-so-gently elbow him in the side, causing him to stand up straight. Turns out, Pana doesn’t _look_ amused either. Maybe now wasn’t the time to make an “I’m already too hot” joke.

Leandro puts his hands on his hips, looking back at them petulantly, and he can see Matteo’s grin out of the corner of his eye. “You just wait, Pana, I’m gonna go out there and sell like a true businessman.” Still holding eye contact with Pana, he smirked haughtily as he made his way to the front door. “All you need is to be loud and attractive, and luckily for you two, I am both of tho-”

“Um, excuse me?”

Leandro couldn’t contain the shriek that was startled out of him. Whipping his head around, he came face to face with a man. Well, more like face to… _shockingly_ white hair, but the point was that Leandro and this man were way, _way_ too close. Leandro’s eyes shifted down until they met pools of violet, and he could already feel his cheeks warm. The white haired man in front of him blushed the slightest bit, making Leandro snap out of his daze. He backed up nervously, stumbling over his feet and eventually tripping and falling on his ass. _Typical_ , a tiny voice said in the back of his head.

Scrambling to get to his feet, Leandro almost whacked his head on a nearby bedside table that was holding way too many fragile items, in his humble opinion. He cleared his throat as he desperately fought to ignore the howling laughter behind him. The man in front of him looked on with a single quirked brow, very obviously unimpressed by the scene.

Nice going, Leandro, embarrassing yourself in front of very attractive strange men was _definitely_ the way to go about finding a significant other. Clearing his throat again, he forced himself to ask, "What do you need?" And that came out way more rude than he had meant it to. _Puta madre_ , you're meant to sell to the customer, Leandro, not drive them away!

As Leandro internally berated himself, he watched as the man crossed his arms, beginning to look slightly irritated.

Pana quickly walked over to save the day, as per usual “Anything I can help you with today, sir-” They paused for a millisecond, blinking once. “Hey! I know you! You used to come in here all the time!” they exclaim with a smile to which the stranger nodded, noticeably looking more comfortable.

The side of his lip quirked the tiniest bit before falling away quickly. “Yeah, I did… it’s been a while, so I thought I’d stop by and check it out again” he says almost monotonically.

“Okay, well, just let Leandro or I know if you need anything!” With a nod to Pana and a glance towards Leandro, he made his way over to the shelves to check out the old gadgets, gait smooth and consistent. He was short, probably about four to five inches shorter than Leandro himself, but he carried himself confidently. His lithe figure held unbidden power behind his biking jacket. He was beautiful. Hand raised to pick up an item, he suddenly turned his head and locked eyes with Leandro.

 _Coño_. Leandro flushed, averting his gaze quickly. He could feel the man’s eyes linger on him for a few more moments before the sensation left, and he breathed out in relief. Feeling a tug on the sleeve of his shirt, he looked over to find Pana raising their brows up and down, a shit-eating grin on their face. Leandro squinted irritably back at them, making them snort before they used the grip on his sleeve to yank him behind the counter.

“Sooo,” they drawled lowly, “You gonna ask for his number?”

Leandro pulled away abruptly, face aflame and freckles most likely standing out even more against the red flush. He snuck a glance in the guy’s direction; his attention remained on the items set out in front of him. “No!” he whispered harshly, “I- I mean, why would I, he’s… well, uh… he’s…” He trails off, trying to think of adjectives not including _beautiful_ or _gorgeous_ or _fuckin’ smoking hot._ His inner panic was cut short when an old radio was set down on the counter; geez, the guy was quiet, when had he walked over here?!

“I just need this,” he stated bluntly, already pulling out a wallet to retrieve his tender.

“Certainly!” Pana smiled, quickly grabbing and ringing up the radio, “By the way, what’s your name again? I don’t remember ever getting it even though you’re pretty much a regular.”

The man, who was staring off into space in the direction of Matteo, seemed taken aback by the sudden question and crossed his arms, shoulders raising slightly. “Akira…” he answered roughly as Pana set the item in a bag. Leandro tried to keep a straight face and nodded as casually as possible.

“Good name… I mean! Not like it could be bad or- not like! Well, it’s just cute- I mean, not cute exactly, just real-”

“Thanks for the radio,” Akira interrupted suddenly and grabbed his bag before speeding towards the door and outside.

Pana looked at their friend pityingly and shook their head, “See this is why you- hey! Lee!” they called out, but Leandro was already out the door, looking around the vacant area frantically. Finally spotting Akira hopping up onto his bike, Leandro jogged over quickly to stop him. Upon hearing him approach, Akira raised a brow in question, and suddenly Leandro’s mouth felt incredibly dry.

“Wait! Um… hey man, I just… uh…” _Ay, Dios mío_ , why could he not talk coherently?! It’s simple, just smile and kindly ask for his number!

“I just wanted to make sure that you’ll come back soon! You know, as an old regular…” _WHAT?_

Akira tilted his head to the side. “I’ll try. I’m in the area a lot.” Leandro gulped as he noticed how Akira’s eyes quickly travelled to his chest and then back up to his face. “So I’ll see you around… Leandro,” he smiled softly. Water from earlier rain sprayed from beneath the bike’s tires as he sped away, leaving Leandro tongue-tied.

Standing dumbstruck, Leandro stood outside for what was probably a long while, before he finally realized that he should get back inside. Akira said his name… Did he remember it from before? Did he like him enough to remember? Grinning, Leandro walked back into the shop with a dreamy look on his face. It didn’t matter, he was just glad that _his_ name came from _Akira’s lips._

The happiness in his chest waned just slightly when he saw Matteo talking to Pana quietly, face solemn and serious. “Laya,” Leandro heard him say, using the affectionate childhood nickname, “You _are_ going to go to college, alright? Your big bro’s gonna make sure of that.” Pana smiled thinly, before punching Matteo in the arm. He hissed and clutched his arm dramatically, making them laugh.

“Yeah, I know. You’d do anything for me,” they said teasingly, causing Matteo to shake his head and walk back to where he was working on his gadgets. Catching sight of Leandro, Pana smirked at him, eyes twinkling mischievously. “So? Did you get his number?” they asked, leaning against the countertop with their chin propped up on one hand.

Leandro shoved the touching scene to the back of his mind and smiled brightly. “Well no, but he knew my name~!” he said proudly, beaming as he walked back over to his spot behind the counter. As he passed by, Pana stopped him, and his pride diminished as they tapped his name tag with bitten nails.

“Yeah, and so does anyone else who comes in here,” they snorted.

Leandro groaned and slumped over the counter, “Way to razzle dazzle ‘em, Leandro.”

\---

When night fell and there wasn’t a single star in the sky, Matteo told Pana to head home early to help their parents with dinner. Not too long after, he and Leandro closed shop, the latter locking the front and back doors. Matteo exhaled heavily, leaning against the side of the building with his eyes closed for a few moments. He looked exhausted. With a smile that didn’t quite light his hazel eyes, Matteo ruffled Leandro’s hair playfully, ignoring the indignant squawk of protest. “Well… maybe we’ll do better tomorrow,” he reassured the brunette softly. He nodded in response, trying his best to muster up a confident smile.

Matteo and Leandro had always been close; after all, it was Matteo who invited Leandro to stay with his family when Leandro himself didn’t have a family to go back to. Being so close meant that Leandro was pretty good at telling when Matteo was feeling sad or stressed. With education prices continuously going up, Leandro knew that doubt was eating Matteo alive. All he wanted was for his little sister to go to college. And it wasn’t until recently that he noticed that Matteo was growing increasingly distant. While obviously still worried about money, Matteo brought it up way less often. Leandro just couldn’t shake the feeling that Matteo was hiding something from him. From his family.

But he wouldn’t bring it up at the moment. Matteo needed rest first and foremost. Leandro promised himself that he would bring it up to his friend tomorrow. “Hey, remember to tell pops that I’m staying at Henare’s tonight!” he reminded, already walking backwards towards the street he’d have to take. “And that I’ll be at the shop at noon, so I won’t be there to open with him!”

Matteo smiled exasperatedly and waved off his friend as he started walking down the alley that would take him home. Leandro smiled and spun on his heel, reaching into his pocket to take out the spare key to Henare’s house. Feeling two keys, he frowned, squinting at his hand through the dark. Shit, he accidentally took the shop key. Pops would need it to open the doors tomorrow morning. “Coño…” Leandro mumbled to himself before turning around to yell out to Matteo. He was completely alone.

Leandro sighed loudly and ran in the direction Matteo went. He turned down the alley they take to go home, and got a glimpse of Matteo quickly turning down another alley. One that they never take. “Matteo?!” he called, but the man was probably way too far away to hear him. He clicked his tongue and followed after him further into the dark alleys.

Biting his lip, Leandro stopped himself from calling out to his friend again. Maybe… maybe if he followed Matteo, then he could figure out what he was doing. If he made himself known, he knew that Matteo would probably just avoid telling him the truth about what he had planned on doing.

The further Leandro followed, the further he was being lead into the part of the city that anyone in their right mind avoided. A lot of drug dealers, pimps, and mafia lived in this area. Just, a lot of bad people that were best to not integrate with. Somehow, the darkness seemed to only grow as he continued walking; neon light blue and red lights gave an eerie atmosphere in the alleyways, glinting off of white warehouse doors and puddles. Graffiti marked almost every surface, and where streets should have connected with the alleys themselves, chain link fences cut off a way to enter.

And a way to escape.

Leandro gulped down the fear threatening to claw up his throat, and marched on. He was completely and utterly lost in the maze of alleyways, so following Matteo was his smartest option anyways. Just as he was about to round another corner, he heard voices. Slowing his pace, he peeked his head around the side of the building. Bins, planks of wood and steel poles lay strewn about the entire area, one plank even leaning at an angle on the side of a building. And there was Matteo in the middle of it all, with a group of five people; two aliens and three humans, from the look of it.

Not thinking, Leandro stepped out from behind the corner and called out, “Matteo..?” Matteo whirled around, face a ghastly white and eye bags even more pronounced than usual under the neon signs. The group of aliens and humans also looked shocked to see him, a couple reaching their hands behind their backs. “Matteo, what is this?” he asked, unable to stop his voice from wavering.

“Lee, what are you doing here?!” Matteo almost yelled, voice sounding like something that Leandro had never heard from him before. He sounded afraid. Now having a better look at him, he noticed that Matteo’s hands were shaking.

One of the humans from the group stepped forward aggressively and pointed in Leandro’s direction, causing him to freeze. “You brought an outsider?!” he snarled at Matteo who went to say something but cut himself off when the man started towards Leandro. “Who are you working for?!” he yelled, Leandro still frozen in place, unable to move.

When the man took another step closer to him, he finally stumbled out, “I- I don’t know what you’re talking about! Working for- what? HEY!” An alien that he hadn’t noticed before grabbed his arm forcefully.

“Boss, I say we just kill him so we don’t have to worry about it.”

Leandro's eyes widened, and to the side, Matteo screamed, “NO! Don't you _dare_ touch him!” Unbidden tears welled in his eyes when he saw what he assumed was the “boss” punch Matteo in the stomach, causing him to hit the ground with a pained gasp.

“You _shut up!”_ he sneered. “After all this time, I thought I could trust you, but then you lead an outsider to us?!” Matteo groaned and shakily got onto his hands and knees, only to fall back down when the man kicked him in the head.

“STOP!” Leandro's voice cracked as he tried pulling away from the alien. The human kicked Matteo again, effectively knocking him unconscious. Leandro struggled even harder, “Hey!! Get the fuck off of me!! STOP IT- DON'T HURT HIM-” His voice is abruptly cut off when the alien holding him grabbed his hair and yanked his head back, exposing his neck.

The alien leered down at him. “My, what interesting eyes you have, human. I didn't know that they could be two different colors.” Leandro grit his teeth, glaring at the creature with as much hate as he could. “You're a pretty thing too. Too bad I gotta kill ya,” he said without any remorse. Cold seeped into his veins at the words, and he muffled a cry of fear at the sight of something silver glinting under the lights.

The alien brought the knife to his throat slowly. The cool metal pressed dangerously against brown skin, and Leandro could feel a single, warm drop of blood slide down to the top of his turtleneck.

 _No, this can't be it. It can't be the end_.

Leandro glanced back down at an unmoving Matteo, and feels immeasurable guilt.

_Please let him get away safely, please please please plea-_

A low rumbling sound cut through the silence of the night and everyone stilled; it grew closer and closer until it sounded as if it was coming from right on top of them. Everyone tilted their heads up in unison to peer at the roof of one of the buildings.

Red. A red bike zoomed into view. It flew down the leaning plank, making it halfway before the wood gave way. The rider seemed to anticipate it however, and corrected, causing the bike to come towards Leandro and the alien. He squeezed his eyes shut, certain that it would land on him, but instead the back wheel hit the alien in the face, making a gross squishing sound that sent Leandro's stomach rolling. Catching himself before he fell, Leandro spun to face the helmeted person, who came to a screeching stop. No one moved, as if nobody knew what to do.

“Get on!” the biker yelled to Leandro. Instincts made him take a step forward, before he stopped.

“No, I have to save my fri-” Something whizzed right past his ear, and a bullet lodged itself into the warehouse across from him.

Before he could even properly react, tires squealed noisily against the asphalt and Leandro found himself lifted up onto the bike behind the stranger. As the bike lurched forward, Leandro was forced to wrap his arms around him to avoid falling off. They quickly sped down the alley, the sounds of shooting falling quickly behind them. “HEY!” Leandro screamed, panicking, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! MY FRIEND IS BACK THERE, WE HAVE TO GO BAC-”

“We’ll die if we don’t leave!” the man yelled back, voice muffled by his helmet. “Do you want to risk all of our lives?! They won’t kill him!” Within seconds, they were back out onto the road, and Leandro could feel the man relax slightly now that the group was long gone. “I’ve been watching those guys for weeks. It started with your friend. He’s messing with some bad people; people that don’t know what the hell is actually going on,” he explains more calmly, and Leandro has to strain his ears to hear him over the rush of air as they sped away.

Leandro realized the increasing speed of the bike and grabbed on even tighter, burying his face in the space between the man’s neck and shoulder, even though it was a bit awkward considering he was a lot taller. The biker tensed for a few seconds before relaxing again. He squeezed his eyes closed tightly, trying to wrap his head around the situation. He couldn’t force himself to respond, but he wanted to ask about the group. What was so bad about those guys? What was Matteo doing with them?

… Would he really be okay…?

Leandro ended up keeping his eyes shut the whole ride. His head was reeling with everything that happened and everything that _could_ have happened. When he felt the bike come to a stop, he opened his eyes, listlessly pulling away from the stranger, and looked around. They were still in motion but it was really slow. All around him were people; old, middle-aged, kids. There were people of all ages. Some were laughing loudly by a small bin lit with fire, while others were sitting against a torn down brick wall, throwing back alcohol like it was water. Majority of the crowd were dressed in ratty, baggy clothing and overall looked worse for wear. Leandro didn’t recognize this place, or any of the people, at all.

“Where are we?” Leandro leaned in to whisper to the man.

A couple of seconds went by before he got an answer. “The Wasure.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!! Make sure to follow us on Tumblr and Wattpad [@LeakiraRedux](https://leakiraredux.tumblr.com/) so that you can keep up to date on all the newest headcanons, updates, and beautiful art!
> 
> DISCLAIMER:  
> Any and all character names/appearances either come from the original creators of the AU, we have gotten the idea from other creators (who will be credited) or we have come up with them ourselves. If anything that is not credited is the same as another's works, it is purely coincidence. If you have any questions regarding the crediting, please feel free to message us privately and we will be happy to discuss with you!
> 
> CREDITS:  
> Thank you to [@arekusa-m](https://arekusa-m.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr for the name Miscere! Make sure to check out the OG post [here](https://arekusa-m.tumblr.com/post/177052147178/my-humble-take-on-voltron-defenders-of-tomorrow)!

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed!! Make sure to follow us on Tumblr and Wattpad [@LeakiraRedux](https://leakiraredux.tumblr.com/) so that you can keep up to date on all the newest headcanons, updates, and beautiful art!
> 
> DISCLAIMER:  
> Any and all character names/appearances either come from the original creators of the AU, we have gotten the idea from other creators (who will be credited) or we have come up with them ourselves. If anything that is not credited is the same as another's works, it is purely coincidence. If you have any questions regarding the crediting, please feel free to message us privately and we will be happy to discuss with you!
> 
> CREDITS:  
> Thank you to [@arekusa-m](https://arekusa-m.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr for the name Miscere! Make sure to check out the OG post [here](https://arekusa-m.tumblr.com/post/177052147178/my-humble-take-on-voltron-defenders-of-tomorrow)!


End file.
